Cotton seeds are used in numerous industrial and consumer applications. Cleaned seeds are processed into cottonseed vegetable oil for cooking applications and cottonseed meal for livestock and poultry feed. The byproducts removed during the cleaning of cotton seeds also have several industrial and commercial uses; for example, the hulls are used as roughage for livestock feed and the lint removed is used in several industrial and commercial products.
Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, there is shown a conventional cotton seed cleaner 10, comprising a four shaker-tray system. Debris is removed as the seeds drop down through the shaker trays 12, 14, 16 and 18. As the seeds are fed into the shaker tray system, a deflector 19 divides and guides the seeds onto the trays. Larger debris such as sticks, rocks, paper, wood, etc. is removed as the seeds drop through the orifices in the top tray 12. Smaller debris such as loose meats, small stones, small shale, and the like are removed as the seeds drop through the orifices in the second tray 14. Similarly, larger debris items are removed as the seeds fall through the orifices in the third tray 16, and the smaller trash and debris is removed in the bottom tray 18. Once the seeds have passed through the trays and fall through the orifices in the second tray 14 and the bottom tray 18, they are cleaned and ready for processing into commercial and industrial products such as cottonseed oil and livestock feed.
Lint and light shale are removed at each of the four shaker trays along with the other debris, but because of the light weight of the lint and shale, they do not progress down the trays for sorting and further processing as efficiently as the larger, heavier debris. Instead, the lint and light shale get trapped in the orifices at the bottom of the trays, eventually blinding and clogging the orifices altogether and preventing any seed from falling through, thereby lessening the efficiency and speed of the cotton seed cleaner 10. As a result, the cotton seed cleaner 10 must be cleaned and maintained frequently which reduces the efficiency and speed of production, ultimately increasing the cost of production. In addition to the production cost, the trapped lint results in lost profits which could have been realized from the sale of the lint. Further the lint recovered by unclogging the orifices for sale as a byproduct is a lesser quality, less valuable lint byproduct because it has been handled more than the lint removed off of the shaker trays.
The present invention comprises a cotton seed cleaner which overcomes the foregoing and other difficulties which have long since characterized the prior art. In accordance with the broader aspects of the invention, a cotton seed cleaner comprises an initial air wash which removes lint before the seed enters into a cascading shaker tray and subsequent pin mill drum system.
Following the initial air wash, seeds enter a shaker tray system. The shaker tray comprises a plurality of cascading trays which scalps the larger debris and trash from the seeds. Once the larger debris is removed through the shaker tray system, the seeds enter a pin mill drum system, where the seeds are completely fluffed and cleaned of the smallest debris and any embedded hull trash.
Because the lint is removed prior to the seeds entering the shaker trays, the trays are less likely to become clogged with debris, therefore reducing the cleaning and maintenance frequency of all components of the cotton seed cleaner. The cascading shaker trays more effectively remove the larger debris so that when the seeds enter the pin mill system, the only debris remaining on the seeds is the smallest debris and any embedded hull trash. As the seeds proceed through a plurality of pin mill drums, the seeds are fluffed and any remaining debris is removed from therefrom. The smaller lint is then sorted by a vibrating table, where the smaller lint is sorted further and collected for further processing. Not only does the cleaning method of the present invention improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the cleaner, but also enables better collection and sorting of the debris for further processing and sale.
The cotton seed cleaner of the present invention produces cleaner seeds and better byproducts, increasing revenue realized from both the cleaned seeds and the byproducts. In addition to the increased revenue from the sale of raw goods, the decrease in maintenance and cleaning frequencies reduces the operating cost, which positively impacts revenue gains.